Serious Cryptography
A Practical Introduction to Modern Encryption
Jean-Philippe Aumasson's working introduction to modern cryptography, written for engineers who need both intuition and enough mathematical depth to evaluate the choices a library is making for them.
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- Authors
- Jean-Philippe Aumasson
- Published
- 2024
- Publisher
- No Starch Press
- Pages
- 376
- Language
- English
Read this if
Engineers who already know what crypto to use and want to understand why it works at the primitive level. The middle book in the modern crypto stack: deeper than Real-World Cryptography, shallower than the academic textbooks.
Skip this if
Beginners or readers who haven't yet decided which primitives to use; start with Wong first. Also wrong for cryptography researchers who need formal proofs.
Key takeaways
- Modern primitives can be understood by engineers, given the right framing — Aumasson's choice to bound the math is the book's defining design decision.
- The 2nd edition (2024) covers post-quantum cryptography (Kyber, Dilithium, SPHINCS+) at the depth a deploying engineer actually needs.
- The chapters on hash-function attacks (length extension, multi-collisions) are the clearest in print and explain why half of the production bugs in HMAC-adjacent code happen.
Notes
Aumasson's BLAKE3 work and CryptoHack contributions make him an unusually credible practitioner-author. Best read after Real-World Cryptography (Wong) for context, then alongside Cryptography Engineering (Ferguson/Schneier/Kohno) for the protocol view. The "Sometimes-Asked Questions" sidebars are the book's secret weapon, treat them as primary content.
What to read before
What to read before Serious Cryptography →Beginner · 1999
The Code Book
A narrative history of cryptography from Caesar ciphers to public-key, told through the people and the wars that turned on broken codes. Still the best on-ramp to why crypto matters.
Beginner · 2021
Crypto Dictionary
Jean-Philippe Aumasson's alphabetical, opinionated reference on cryptographic terms, primitives, attacks and folklore. Snack-format companion to Serious Cryptography.
Intermediate · 2021
Real-World Cryptography
David Wong's hands-on tour of the cryptographic primitives, protocols and pitfalls that show up in actual production systems, with deliberate attention to TLS, Noise, modern AEAD, and post-quantum.
What to read next
What to read after Serious Cryptography →Advanced · 2020
Security Engineering
Ross Anderson's comprehensive textbook on the design of secure systems, covering protocols, access control, side channels, economics of security, and policy.
Advanced · 2015
Sécurité informatique
A rigorous academic course on the foundations of security — cryptography, authentication, access control — with corrected exercises, from a team of well-known French and Swiss cryptographers.
Advanced · 2023
Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie
A rigorous problem book for learning cryptography — over 150 corrected exercises with course summaries, for L3/master/engineering students — by a French academic cryptographer.
Explore similar books
Alternatives to Serious Cryptography →Intermediate · 2021
Real-World Cryptography
David Wong's hands-on tour of the cryptographic primitives, protocols and pitfalls that show up in actual production systems, with deliberate attention to TLS, Noise, modern AEAD, and post-quantum.
Intermediate · 2010
Cryptography Engineering
A working engineer's introduction to cryptography that takes implementation pitfalls more seriously than most.
Intermediate · 1998
La science du secret
A lucid popular-science history of cryptography by Jacques Stern, one of France's most eminent cryptographers — from classical ciphers to public-key and the science of secrecy.